


Welcome Home

by nagisa-sensei (komaedakibou)



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Apart from Rhyme, Drunk Neku, M/M, Rhyme is like 18, This is like 5 years after the Reaper's Game so everyone is in their 20s, Transboy Rhyme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 07:39:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8004067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komaedakibou/pseuds/nagisa-sensei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a drunken Neku tries to reclaim his grip on reality, a pretty boy he's sure he's never seen before ends up being appointed as his babysitter. There's something about him, though - something familiar and melancholy - that makes him desperate to find out all there is to know about him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sorta_sora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorta_sora/gifts).



Stumbling through the house that I barely even recognised, I place a hand on my head and the other against the wall to steady myself so I can attempt to reclaim my grip on reality at least a little bit.

My vision is blurry and the world is basically a bunch of multi-coloured blobs at the moment, but as I stand still and concentrate on clearing my mind, things slightly come into focus. The wallpaper in front of me is no longer plain blue, but blue and white striped with a small scratch that I can now make out right above my hand.

“Are you okay, Neku?” A small, soothing voice asks from behind me, making me turn to see a big blob that looked suspiciously like Rhyme. “You don’t look so good, maybe you should sit down?”

I hear him, but I don’t have the coherency to respond, his words going through one ear and out the other. Instead, I find myself fascinated with the sight of this scratch – how long has it been there? Who did this? What is the story behind this one, lonely blemish amongst this flawless wallpaper?

Whose house was this again?

I turn to my side, noticing that Rhyme is watching me with a small, patient smile and his hands clasped together in front of him. How long has he been watching me? Does he expect something from me?

He smiles sweetly as he places a tender yet firm hand on my arm, slowly directing me away from the wall. I don’t really know what’s going on, but I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. If he thinks I need to get away from the wall, then I need to get away from the wall. I’ll never find out the story behind that mark…

I try to pay attention to the way I’m walking now, not wanting to accidentally crush the poor, delicate boy to death because I was too drunk to coordinate my feet. As long as I make sure I’m actually moving properly, I should be fine, right?

Why did I even come to this party? Any and all parties that Beat has a hand in orchestrating usually end up in utter tragedy – either be it from the cops or some random uninvited college kids trying crash the party – Beat’s endless reign of bad luck seems to follow him no matter what. Typically I would avoid coming to these, but I’m too wasted to even think of the reason that lured me here for once. I’m grateful that Rhyme is here, at least, so there’s a voice of reason to help out when everything fatefully goes to shit.

My feet are starting to mix together to become one giant foot, though… is that even possible? Am I becoming a monster? Will I ever have two feet again?

In a moment of panic, I feel myself starting to tip. In a desperate attempt to at least save Rhyme before I meet my end, I push him away and end up flinging myself in the opposite direction from him.

Eyes on the ground, I frown. The floor looks disgusting and I don’t want whatever liquid I can just barely spot to be on my body or clothing in any form whatsoever, but at least I saved Rhyme. He did nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to suffer because of my poor decisions.

“Oh my, what have we here?” A snarky voice speaks up as I realise that I have not hit the ground, but instead something soft and comfortable.

Blinking in confusion, I become aware of surprisingly strong arms that were definitely not Rhyme’s holding me up and a body pressed up against my side. Someone caught me? I try to make out the features of whoever it is, but it just looks like some ethereal white glowing person, for some reason. Exactly how drunk am I?

“Huh?” I mumble, too out of it to straighten myself. I can’t even feel my body – it’s more like dead weight and I have no idea how I’ve been moving around at all. I felt like I should be standing properly already, but the tilted floor and the amused smile on this mystery boy’s pretty face is enough to tell me that I’m wrong.

“If you’re going to make a move on me, the least you could do is buy me a drink first.” He says, pushing me so I’m upright properly. He keeps a hand firmly on my waist and places his free hand on his hip, looking slightly exasperated now.

After taking a few deep breaths, I can actually see his features and confirm that he isn’t some creepy ghost that I made up. He actually looks pretty cute…

“Neku! Are you okay?” Rhyme calls out, promptly appearing in my vision again with a worried look on his face. “I know you’re concerned about me, but I could have caught you. I was prepared to help you, you know…”

I narrow my eyes as I examine him and notice the white of his binder sticking out above the collar of his jumper, quickly moving forward to fix it so it isn’t visible anymore. Rhyme looks down and his face turns red as he straightens it out properly, smiling and nodding at me in thanks. Hopefully nobody else noticed… I don’t want to cause any unneeded problems for him.

“Forgive me if I seem rude, but you don’t exactly look well-equipped to be of assistance to someone of his… calibre.” The boy says, letting go of me and crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

“Don’t insult him,” I speak up without thinking, poking him roughly in the chest. “I won’t stand for anything like that.”

He raises a dainty eyebrow at me, scoffing lightly and waving a dismissive hand in my direction. “I was simply saying that you’re much bigger and heavier than he is… no need to be rude, dear.”

Rhyme puffs out his cheeks slightly, moving over to examine me and thank me under his breath. At least he’s okay and I’ve brought all the attention to myself…

Seemingly satisfied after a few moments, he huffs and moves back, nodding to himself.

“I might not look like much, but I’m actually really strong. I could have helped him just fine, but I’m grateful that you managed to help him while I wasn’t able to.” Rhyme says gratefully, smiling brightly. “Your name is… Joshua, right?”

The boy apparently named Joshua nods, crossing his arms tighter. “That’s right. Well, since you’ve got everything under control here, I suppose I’ll be on my way.”

I don’t know what comes over me as I reach out and take a hold of his sleeve desperately, almost falling flat on my face once again in the process. For some reason, I just couldn’t leave it at that. I wanted to talk to this mysterious stranger.

Rhyme hums, bouncing on the balls of his feet and giggling. “Actually… looks like _you_ have it under control. Mind watching him for a little bit? You don’t have to but… I need to check up on my brother and it would make me feel better to know that Neku is in good hands while I’m gone.”

Joshua gives me a once over, slowly inspecting me from head to toe and sighing. “You leave me with no choice. I’ll babysit for a bit.”

“Thank you!”

As Rhyme bounds off in search of his brother, Joshua turns to me with a smirk and winks. “So… are you going to buy me that drink, dear?”

I nod in confirmation without really thinking about the implications, feeling giddy as he takes a hold of my hand and pulls me over to the hired bar.

My hand feels sweaty and gross in his – why doesn’t he let go? He looks like the kind of prissy kid who would be disgusted by even the thought of someone else’s sweat getting anywhere near them… but then again, I really shouldn’t be judging people based on their appearance.

“Do you live around here?” I ask, realising that the bar was pretty far away from where we were. Might as well learn something about him on the way, right?

“You could say that. Why, do you want to see my place personally? I didn’t think you’d be the type to move the relationship that quickly, Nekky.”

“I… I don’t…” I splutter, my face quickly flushing red. What’s up with this guy? He’s definitely interested in me, right? Or is he just fucking with me? “…Don’t call me ‘Nekky’.”

He laughs, covering his mouth with his hand. There’s something condescending in there, but it still sounds nice to hear as well as annoying... How is it that this guy makes me want to be near him and far away from him simultaneously? I don’t get it.

“You’re really cute when you’re blushing so much, dear. I could get used to a sight like that.”

Irritation starts to fill my head as my face heats up even more. Somehow, even though his attitude pisses me off to no end, there’s an intrigue that I have towards him that’s only growing each moment I spend in his presence. With every airy giggle, every suggestive wink and every provocative comment, I feel the irresistible urge to get closer to him.

“Are you interested in me?” I blurt out, feeling kind of disappointed when the question doesn’t catch him off guard or something. He simply continues walking, never faltering for a moment.

As we reach the bar he makes his order, extending his palm out to me expectantly. I wasn’t even sure if I brought my wallet with me, since Beat shouted me for all the drinks I’d already had today. I didn’t exactly need to have money with me…

Luckily, I actually do have it in one of my many pockets, though it takes a while to locate. I hand him money, not really sure how much I was giving up and hope that he actually is decent and gives me the change. I can’t bring myself to care very much about money at the moment.

“I suppose you could say that I find you fairly enthralling.” He mutters, smiling as he’s handed some kind of pink fruity girly drink. Man, this guy is really… “Or were you perhaps insinuating something else?”

There’s a way he talks and looks at his drink in that moment that makes me feel sorry for him. He looks incredibly lonely, and the comments seemed forced as well as the smile on his face.

“I like you,” I mumble drunkenly, not even caring about the words coming out of my mouth. I’ve always been an honest drunk, so it can’t be all that bad. “I want to get to know you. Go out with me?”

Now he looks surprised. He narrows his eyes and inspects me closely, clicking his tongue and sighing to himself. He looks kind of lost and confused, as though he’d never expected me to say anything positive about his constant flirting. Maybe I misunderstood his intentions?

“I’ll answer that when you aren’t drunk, dear.” He whispers, his voice cracking slightly. Maybe I imagined it? “Thank you for the drink. I think I need to leave now.”

Panic.

I start to panic immediately at his attempts to get away from me. Did I do something wrong? Is it just because I’m drunk and he feels like I’m messing with him? He started this.

He hands me my change before chugging his drink and standing up, my vision blurring once again to an extreme extent as I fly out of my seat to follow him. I can’t let him leave. When will I see him again? How am I supposed to ask him anything when I’ve never even seen him before today?

“Please don’t disappear again,” I murmur, hand reaching out for him. “Please, Josh…”

Again?

His eyes widen as he takes in the pathetic sight of me wobbling on the spot, unable to actually figure out where he was so I can take a hold of him. He inhales sharply and takes a hold of my hand, the coldness of it chilling me to the core. It was like he was dead.

“…Neku?”

For some reason, this felt like a reunion… like I was meeting someone who I hadn’t seen in years and missed horribly all this time. But that isn’t possible.

His lavender eyes bore into mine, and I can’t help but feel like they’re familiar. Comfortable. The sight of them made me feel at ease despite my confusion and spinning head. They were solid in a world filled with obscure images that didn’t make sense to my clouded mind.

Then there’s a sharp throbbing, like my brain was being stabbed. I let out a shout as an image of Joshua pointing a gun at me flashes through my mind, dropping to my knees on the icy tiles covering the floor. I can hear him call out my name as he leans beside me, his frozen hand cupping my cheek.

Then it all comes back to me. The three weeks I spent playing the Reaper’s Game. All the forgotten knowledge that had somehow slipped out of my grasp, never to be thought about again. Until now.

How did I forget?

“Five years…” I mumble, my eyes starting to water. “It’s been five years since I last saw you. I waited for you every day at the Statue of Hachiko but you never came… why, Josh?”

He watches me with indifferent eyes, the slight shrug of a shoulder being the only reply in response to my question. It infuriates me to no end – so much that I don’t even feel like I’m drunk anymore – but I can’t bring myself to actually be upset with him. Sure, it’s been a long time coming, but he’s here now… right in front of me. Holding my hand and touching my face. He’s real.

Using his thumb to wipe away the few stray tears that managed to fall, he bites his lip and trains his eyes on the ground. Why doesn’t he want to talk to me if he’s actually appeared before me again after all this time?

Suddenly his hand drops from my face and he stands back up, pulling me with him and leading me away from the bar. The drink getting to me again, I can’t bring myself to question anything and just stumble along behind him, trusting in him to the best of my ability.

He ends up pulling me into a quiet, abandoned room which I quickly identify as Rhyme’s. I can’t help but feel like this is a horrible idea and extremely disrespectful towards him and his privacy, but Joshua just pushes me against the door and sighs loudly, pressing his head against the wall beside me.

“I can’t believe this…” He says, exasperated. “I didn’t think this would happen. You never fail to surprise me, Neku.”

“…Why did I forget?”

His lavender eyes watch me closely, making me break into a cold sweat. I can’t help but feel like I’m being judged in this moment and the feeling makes me uncomfortable, even if it is just Joshua.

“I made you forget. I was sick of watching you wait for me pathetically and getting depressed when I never showed up.”

“That’s not fair…”

“Well, sometimes life isn’t fair, dear.”

His tone is slowly getting more and more aggressive, making me back off. I can’t really understand why he would do something like that, but I figure I should at least be grateful for this opportunity to be with him again…

His hand reaches up to twirl his already curled hair as he closes his eyes and evens out his breathing, trying to calm himself. I want to reach out to him but pull back and refrain – getting too close and personal with him right now would probably only end up backfiring on me.

When he opens his eyes again and moves back to stand in front of me, I allow myself to speak my mind.

“I missed you…”

The face he makes at that was as though I’d just punched him in the face. It twists in pain before it disappears, a small (and so incredibly fake) teasing smile taking its place.

“I didn’t know you felt that way about me, Neku,” his voice is taut and he’s desperately trying to put on some kind of façade, but even drunk me can’t play along with this pathetic sight. “…I missed you too.”

Clenching my fists, I can’t hold back from practically leaping on him, pulling him into an embrace and holding him close to my chest. He tenses and his arms lay limp at his sides, but I’m just so glad to be with him again that I don’t think twice about my actions. It felt right to be with him like this. It was as though some empty void I didn’t know was there had just been filled – making me feel complete again. I didn’t even know I was broken before now.

Joshua also feels broken. Now that my awareness of him had come back, I realise why I’ve been so depressed all this time for seemingly no reason. I’d been listening to Shibuya’s song – _Joshua’s song_ – and it had been so forlorn and raw that it filled every fibre of my being with a remorseful melancholy that I couldn’t even pinpoint the source of. It was eating away at both of us all this time… for years.

He starts to shake, his arms finally lifting up to embrace me back. He buries his face in the fabric of my jacket, a small hiccup escaping him as his hands take fistfuls of the material, clinging to me tightly.

Before I know it, he’s pulling back and demandingly grabbing the back of my head, pulling us together to connect with a kiss. It feels like electricity runs through my body as the soft, damp feeling of his lips press against mine, the pleasant scent of lavender and lilacs wafting off of him and making me feel light headed.

I press against him more firmly as he sends a tingle down my spine, his hand creeping up under my clothes to press against the heated skin of my back. I feel like I’m melting into him as we press up against each other as close as possible from head to toe, my own hands starting to wander over his delicate skin, the feeling of him shivering in my arms giving me goose bumps and a satisfaction reserved only for him.  

As I pull away for air I suck at his bottom lip, causing a small and breathless moan to escape him that makes me want to do more perverse, inappropriate things with him. His hair and clothes are dishevelled and his face is dusted a pretty pink – very much fitting for Joshua – filling me up with a blissful happiness that could only be produced by this man in front of me. Pressing our foreheads together, I take his hand into mine once again and simply bask in his presence, feeling completely relaxed for the first time in what felt like forever.

Then the door opens and a cute, confused looking Rhyme regards us with understanding eyes and a heavy sigh.

“Well, it’s about time you two saw each other again and made up. You’re lucky you did this in my room and not Beat’s.”

I lower my face behind the collar of my jacket in a desperate attempt to hide my face that’s probably as red as a tomato by now. I can’t believe he walked in on us… but at least it’s just Rhyme and he didn’t do it sooner. Now _that_ would have been embarrassing.

 But wait a second…

“You remembered Josh?”

Nodding proudly, Rhyme raises his hand to pat me on the head. “Yep! Nobody else seemed to remember, but I did! I didn’t want to confuse you or anything or else I would’ve brought it up sooner. I’m happy for you two, though!”

Joshua seems just as bewildered as I do at this information. I wonder why Rhyme remembered when nobody else did. It didn’t make sense…

Putting that aside for now, we leave the room to give Rhyme his personal space. He seemed really tired, so he probably had a hard time quelling Beat.

I keep a firm hold on Joshua’s hand as we move to a different secluded section of the house. It seems like the party has died down for now and fortunately, there weren’t any gigantic accidents (that I know of, at least), so it was quite peaceful.

As we take a seat on a couch, I stare at the suddenly quiet Joshua for a few moments before leaning against his side and laying my head on his shoulder.

“So… does this mean you accept my invitation to go out together?”

Letting out a fake irritated huff, Joshua hums thoughtfully with that annoying high-pitched voice of his before nodding his head and pressing a light kiss to my temple.

“Sure dear, why not?”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated! This was kind of rushed since I was suddenly hit by my long-lost love of TWEWY (and transboy Rhyme), but I'm hoping I managed to do alright. I also hope that you liked this Sora! I wasn't sure exactly what to write when you said you wanted to read JoshNeku, but this happened and well... I stuck with it.


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